Portland Careers in Nursing

Registered nurses assess patient needs and health problems, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. They also administer care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. Nurses regularly advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. In the United States (and more specifically the state of California) licensing or registration is required.

Nursing careers available in the Portland also include advance practice nurses such as: nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives, neonatal nurses, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Advanced practice nursing is practiced by RN's who have specialized formal, post-basic education and who function in highly autonomous and specialized roles.

Education & Training

Choosing a health care school is similar to choosing schools in any discipline. Location, credentials, and faculty quality should all be considered when selecting your school. You should also consider the following:

Be sure to look for a manageable class size with a good ratio of students to teacher -- the more students, the less time a teacher has to spend with an individual if extra assistance is needed. In health care studies, one-one-one attention could be crucial to understanding essential concepts and duties.

Look at the credentials of the people teaching the classes. Are they employed solely as educators, or do they teach part-time and have current hands-on experience in the field?

Ask if faculty members are involved in research or scholarly publishing. The more involved they are with either of these aspects, the better the chance of being introduced to new concepts and plans for the future of the professions.

A major part of learning the skills for jobs in allied health are associated with hands-on participation in the form of internships (also called "externships' or "clinical" field experience). Schools should have the ability to provide you with pre-arranged internships, or be able to assist you in finding ones for yourself.

Ensure that classes (and clinicals in particular) will be taught in state-of-the-art facilities. With so many changes in technology, learning on equipment that is already several years out-of-date is a poor decision.

The health care field is growing by leaps and bounds. Don't let the school you choose leave you unprepared. Learn more about school facilities and programs by requesting more information from any of the schools listed on HealthCareDegrees.org.